Reading The Battle of The Labyrinth
by mythologyfreakgirl
Summary: The fourth book in my series. How will the characters react?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Percy Jackson!**

"Alright let's get started." Annabeth said as she came into the room with the rest. Grover grabbed the book and began.

"The Battle of The Labyrinth. Chapter one, I battle the cheerleading squad."


	2. I Battle The Cheerleading Squad

I do not own any of the characters

I battle the cheerleading squad

"I battle the cheerleading squad." Grover began they raised an eyebrow. "Weird title.'

Rachel frowned. She had a feeling she knew what this chapter would be about.

The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school. But there I was Monday morning, the first week of June, sitting in my mom's car in front of Goode High School on East 81st .

Rachel groaned in agreement. "It completely sucked.."

Goode was this big brownstone building overlooking the East River. A bunch of **BMWs** and Lincoln Town Cars were parked out front. Staring up at the fancy stone archway, I wondered how long it would take me to get kicked out of this place.

"Way to be optimistic, kelp head." Thalia said.

"Just relax." My mom didn't sound relaxed. "It's only an orientation tour. And remember, dear, this is Paul's school. So try not to…you know."

"Destroy it?"

"Yes."

"I love how they say it so casually." Piper joked.

Paul Blofis, my mom's boyfriend, was standing out front, greeting future ninth graders as they came up the steps. With his salt-and-pepper hair, denim clothes, and leather jacket, he reminded me of a TV actor, but he was just an English teacher. He'd managed to convince Goode High School to accept me for ninth grade, despite the fact that I'd gotten kicked out of every school I'd ever attended. I'd tried to warn him it wasn't a good idea, but he wouldn't listen.

"Of course not," Annabeth said. "Paul really likes Percy."

I looked at my mom. "You haven't told him the truth about me, have you?

She tapped her fingers nervously on the wheel. She was dressed up for a job interview—her best blue dress and high-heeled shoes.

"I thought we should wait," she admitted.

"So we don't scare him away."

"I'm sure orientation will be fine, Percy, It's only one morning."

"Great," I mumbled. "I can get expelled before I start the school year."

Everyone laughed.

"Think positive. Tomorrow you're off to camp! After orientation, you've got your date—"

Grover smirked. "A date, huh? I wonder who that could be."

Annabeth blushed as the others laughed. "Shut up!"

"It's not a date!" I protested. "It's just Annabeth, Mom. Jeez!"

"See! No date. Just to people being friends." Annabeth said but no one listened.

"She's coming all the way from camp to meet you."

"Well, yeah."

"You're going to the movies."

"Yeah."

"Just the two of you."

By now everyone was laughing while Annabeth was blushing.

"Sounds like a date to me." Leo laughed.

"Mom!"

She held up her hands in surrender, but I could tell she was trying hard not to smile. "You'd better get inside, dear. I'll see you tonight."

I was about to get out of the car when I looked over the steps of the school. Paul Blofis was greeting a girl with frizzy red hair. She wore a maroon T-shirt and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings. When she turned, I caught a glimpse of her face, and the hairs on my arms stood straight up.

"Monster?" Travis and Connor wondered.

"Percy?" my mom asked. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," I stammered. "Does the school have a side entrance?"

"Sounds like a monster." Nico said.

"Down the block on the right. Why?"

"I'll see you later."

My mom started to say something, but I got out of the car and ran, hoping the redheaded girl wouldn't see me.

Rachel looked at the book in interest. She had a feeling Percy was talking about her.

What was _**she doing here? Not even my luck could be this bad.**_

_Everyone, especially Annabeth, snorted at this._

Yeah, right. I was about to find out my luck could get a lot worse.

"About time Prissy admitted it." Clarisse said.

Sneaking into orientation didn't work out too well. Two cheerleaders in purple-and-white uniforms were standing at the side entrance, waiting to ambush freshmen.

Piper frowned. She did not have good experiences with cheerleaders. They tended to be the ones who made fun of her.

Sensing her discomfort Jason out his arm around her.

"Hi!" They smiled, which I figured was the first and last time any cheerleaders would be that friendly to me. One was blond with icy blue eyes. The other was African American with dark curly hair like Medusa's (and believe me, I know what I'm talking about).

Annabeth and Grover shuddered. Not a fun experience.

Both girls had their names stitched in cursive on their uniforms, but with my dyslexia, the words looked like meaningless spaghetti.

the room filled with laughter. "That's one way to put it." Nico said.

"Welcome to Goode," the blond girl said. "You are _**so going to love it."**_

But as she looked me up and down, her expression said something more like, _**Eww, who is this loser?**_

_Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, and Nico narrowed their eyes. _

_"Stupid girl," Thalia growled. "Only we get to pick on Percy."_

The other girl stepped uncomfortably close to me. I studied the stitching on her uniform and made out _**Kelli. She smelled like roses and something else I **__**recognized from riding lessons at camp—the scent of freshly washed horses. It was a weird smell for a cheerleader. Maybe she owned a horse or something. Anyway, she stood so close I got the feeling she was going to try to push me down the steps. "What's your name, fish?"**_

_Everyone tensed. '__Fish?' __Annabeth thought. __'Does she know he's a son of Poseidon.'_

"Fish?"

"Freshman."

Grover snorted and muttered. "Bad cover up."

"Uh, Percy."

The girls exchanged looks.

"Oh, Percy Jackson," the blond one said. "We've been waiting for you."

Jason groaned. "Sheesh. His luck sucks. To monsters already in the first chapter. "

That sent a major _**Uh-oh chill down my back. They were blocking the entrance, smiling in a not-very-friendly way. My hand crept instinctively toward my pocket, where I kept my lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide.**_

Leo laughed and the others turned to glare at him. "Sorry," He said, still laughing. "It's just that lethal ballpoint pen sounds so weird." The others rolled their eyes but did agree.6

Then another voice came from inside the building. "Percy?" It was Paul Blofis, somewhere down the hallway. I'd never been so glad to hear his voice.

Rachel nodded in agreement. "I can see why." She than shuddered remembering how horrible those things looked.

The cheerleaders backed off. I was so anxious to get past them I accidentally kneed Kelli in the thigh.

_**Clang.**_

_Thalia's eyes widened. They were an Empousai. She looked at Annabeth in question who nodded. Thalia groaned. She had come across Empousai with the hunters and they were powerful monsters._

Her leg made a hollow, metallic sound, like I'd just hit a flagpole.

"Weird." Connor and Travis said.

"Ow," she muttered. "Watch it, _**fish."**_

_Clarisse sighed. "Well they definitely know who his godly parent is."_

_"How can you tell?" Jason asked._

_"Cause they keep calling him 'fish'." Clarisse answered. _

I glanced down, but her leg looked like a regular old leg. I was too freaked out to ask questions. I dashed into the hall, the cheerleaders laughing behind me.

"I would be to." Grover said.

"There you are!" Paul told me. "Welcome to Goode!"

"Hey, Paul—uh, Mr. Blofis." I glanced back, but the weird cheerleaders had disappeared.

"Percy, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Nico shook his head. "Worse. Monsters are worse than ghosts."

"Yeah, uh—"

Paul clapped me on the back. "Listen, I know you're nervous, but don't worry. We get a lot of kids here with ADHD and dyslexia. The teachers know how to help."

"That's nice that he's trying to reassure him." Piper said.

I almost wanted to laugh. If only ADHD and dyslexia were my biggest worries. I mean, I knew Paul was trying to help, but if I told him the truth about me, he'd either think I was crazy or he'd run away screaming. Those cheerleaders, for instance. I had a bad feeling about them….

The Stoll brothers laughed. "Run away screaming, huh? I think we can make that happen."

Annabeth glared at them. She had gotten close to Sally and Paul these last months. "No!"

The brothers groaned but knew better than to argue.

Then I looked down the hall, and I remembered I had another problem. The redheaded girl I'd seen on the front steps was just coming in the main entrance.

Thalia sighed. "He just can't catch a break can he."

_**Don't notice me, I prayed.**_

She noticed me. Her eyes widened.

Rachel grinned remembering how surprised she had been.

"Where's the orientation?" I asked Paul.

"The gym. That way. But—"

"Bye."

Grover rolled his eyes. "Well that was rude."

"Percy?" he called, but I was already running.

I thought I'd lost her.

Rachel smirked. '_Not that easily.' _She thought.

A bunch of kids were heading for the gym, and soon I was just one of three hundred fourteen-year-olds all crammed into the bleachers. A marching band played an out-of-tune fight song that sounded like somebody hitting a bag of cats with a metal baseball bat. Older kids, probably student council members, stood up front modeling the Goode school uniform and looking all, _**Hey, we're cool. Teachers milled around, smiling and shaking hands with students. The walls of the gym were plastered with big purple and-white banners that said WELCOME FUTURE FRESHMEN, GOODE IS GOOD, WE'RE ALL FAMILY, and a bunch of other happy slogans that pretty much made me want to throw up.**_

_The guys shuddered and the girls rolled their eyes. Nico was the worse though. Percy had once told him that Sally was working on getting him back to school. Now Nico liked Sally, and saw her as a second mother. She was family, Paul too. Even more since they let him stay there a lot, but Nico really did __not__ want to go to school. Especially Goode where Paul was trying to get him in._

None of the other freshmen looked thrilled to be here, either. I mean, coming to orientation in June, when school doesn't even start until September, is not cool. But at Goode, "We prepare to excel early!" At least that's what the brochure said.

Nico looked depressed. "They even have a brochure." He muttered.

The marching band stopped playing. A guy in a pinstripe suit came to the microphone and started talking, but the sound echoed around the gym so I had no idea what he was saying. He might've been gargling.

Everyone gave a small laugh at this.

Someone grabbed my shoulder," What are you doing here?"

It was her: my redheaded nightmare.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at this.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," I said.

Her jaw dropped like she couldn't believe I had the nerve to remember her name. "And you're Percy somebody. I didn't get your full name last December when you tried to _**kill me."**_

_Once again the room laughed and looked at Rachel who was smiling._

"Look, I wasn't—I didn't—What are _**you doing here?"**_

"Same as you, I guess. Orientation."

"You live in New York?"

"What, you thought I lived at the Hoover Dam?"

"Yes." Leo said completely serious with Connor and Travis nodding in agreement. Everyone else just rolled their eyes at the three.

"No. I though you lived in that area." Percy said.

It had never occurred to me. Whenever I thought about her (and I'm _**not saying I thought about her; she just like crossed my mind from time to time, okay?)**_

_The others laughed while Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek. She was __not __jealous!_

_**I always figured she lived in the Hoover Dam area, since that's where I'd met her. We'd spent maybe ten minutes together, during which time I'd accidentally swung a sword at her, she'd saved my life, and I'd run away chased by a band of supernatural killing machines. You know, your typical chance meeting.**_

_Everyone snorted. Rachel on the other hand looked thoughtful. "Compared to some other things that wasn't too bad."_

_She got a lot of weird looks but just shrugged._

Some guy behind us whispered, "Hey, shut up. The cheerleaders are talking!"

"Hi, guys!" a girl bubbled into the microphone. It was the blonde I'd seen at the entrance. "My name is Tammi, and this is like, Kelli." Kelli did a cartwheel.

Next to me, Rachel yelped like someone had stuck her with a pin. A few kids looked over and snickered, but Rachel just stared at the cheerleaders in horror. Tammi didn't seem to notice the outburst. She started talking about all the great ways we could get involved during our freshman year.

Jason frowned and asked. "You can see through the mist, right?"

Rachel nodded.

"Run," Rachel told me. "Now."

"Why?"

Rachel didn't explain. She pushed her way to the edge of the bleachers, ignoring the frowning teachers and grumbling kids she was stepping on.

I hesitated. Tammi was explaining how we were about to break into small groups and tour the school. Kelli caught my eye and gave me an amused smile, like she was waiting to see what I'd do. It would look bad if I left right now. Paul Blofis was down there with the rest of the teachers. He'd wonder what was wrong.

"That is so not important right now, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth groaned.

Then I thought about Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and the special ability she'd shown last winter at Hoover Dam. She'd been able to see a group of security guards who weren't guards at all, who weren't even human. My heart pounding, I got up and followed her out of the gym.

Annabeth nodded. "Good."

I found Rachel in the band room. She was hiding behind a bass drum in the percussion section.

"Get over here!" she said. "Keep your head down!"

I felt pretty silly hiding behind a bunch of bongos, but I crouched down beside her.

Thalia and Nico laughed at the mental image.

"Did they follow you?" Rachel asked.

"You mean the cheerleaders?"

She nodded nervously.

"I don't think so," I said. "What are they? What did you see?"

Her green eyes were bright with fear. She had a sprinkle of freckles on her face that reminded me of constellations. Her maroon T-shirt read HARVARD ART DEPT. "You…you wouldn't believe me."

Grover grinned. "Oh yeah he would."

"Oh, yeah, I would," I promised.

Grover blushed as the others laughed at him.

"I know you can see through the Mist."

"The what?"

"The Mist. It's…well, it's like this veil that hides the way things really are. Some mortals are born with the ability to see through it. Like you."

"And Sally." Thalia said.

She studied me carefully. "You did that at Hoover Dam. You called me a mortal. Like you're not."

Rachel frowned. "That was really confusing."

I felt like punching a bongo. What was I thinking? I could never explain. I shouldn't even try.

"Tell me," she begged. "You know what it means. All these horrible things I see?"

"They are a lot of horrible things out there." Piper agreed.

"Look, this is going to sound weird. Do you know anything about Greek myths?"

"Like…the Minotaur and the Hydra?"

The demigods flinched.

"Yeah, just try not to say those names when I'm around, okay?"

"And the Furies," she said, warming up. "And the Sirens, and—"

Once again they flinched.

"Okay!" I looked around the band hall, sure that Rachel was going to make a bunch of bloodthirsty nasties pop out of the walls; but we were still alone. Down the hallway, I heard a mob of kids coming out of the gymnasium. They were starting the group tours. We didn't have long to talk.

"All those monsters," I said, "all the Greek gods—they're real."

"Way to break it to her easily." Leo said.

Rachel shrugged. "I was just glad to learn what was going on."

"I knew it!"

Everyone looked at her in disbelief while she blushed.

I would've been more comfortable if she'd called me a liar, but Rachel looked like I'd just confirmed her worst suspicion.

"He did."

"You don't know how hard it's been," she said. "For years I thought I was going crazy. I couldn't tell anybody. I couldn't—" Her eyes narrowed. "Wait. Who are you? I mean _**really?"**_

_"Percy Jackson the savior of Olympus." Travis and Connor said dramatically._

"I'm not a monster."

"Well, I know that. I could _**see**__** if you were. You look like…you. But you're not human, are you?"**_

I swallowed. Even though I'd had three years to get used to who I was, I'd never talked about it with a regular mortal before—I mean, except for my mom, but she already knew. I don't know why, but I took the plunge.

"Took a plunge." Clarisse asked. "Gods that's so Prissy."

"I'm a half-blood," I said. "I'm half human."

"And half what?"

"God." Everyone said except Rachel and Grover.

Just then Tammi and Kelli stepped into the band room. The doors slammed shut behind them.

Jason groaned. "That's not good."

"There you are, Percy Jackson," Tammi said. "It's time for your orientation."

"They're horrible!" Rachel gasped.

Tammi and Kelli were still wearing their purple-and-white cheerleader costumes, holding pom-poms from the rally.

Leo snickered. "Killer cheerleaders."

"What do they really look like?" I asked, but Rachel seemed too stunned to answer.

"They were hideous." Rachel shuddered.

"Oh, forget her." Tammi gave me a brilliant smile and started walking toward us. Kelli stayed by the doors, blocking our exit.

They'd trapped us. I knew we'd have to fight our way out, but Tammi's smile was so dazzling it distracted me. Her blue eyes were beautiful, and the way her hair swept over her shoulders…

Thalia gave an annoyed look. "Stupid enchanting magic. Why do monsters always have to have something like that."

"Percy," Rachel warned.

I said something really intelligent like, "Uhhh?"

That made some small laughs.

Tammi was getting closer. She held out her pom-poms.

"Percy!" Rachel's voice seemed to be coming from a long way away. "Snap out of it!"

It took all my willpower, but I got my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide grew into a three-foot-long bronze sword, its blade glowing with a faint golden light. Tammi's smile turned to a sneer.

"And her true colors show." Rachel muttered.

"Oh, come on," she protested. "You don't need that. How about a kiss instead?"

Annabeth glared at the book.

She smelled like roses and clean animal fur—a weird but somehow intoxicating smell.

Rachel pinched my arm, hard. "Percy, she wants to bite you! Look at her!"

She's just jealous," Tammi looked back at Kelli. "May I, mistress?"

Rachel snorted. "Yeah, that was it. I was just jealous." The others laughed at her sarcastic tone.

Kelli was still blocking the door, licking her lips hungrily. "Go ahead, Tammi. You're doing fine."

Tammi took another step forward, but I leveled the tip of my sword at her chest. "Get back."

She snarled. "Freshmen," she said with disgust. "This is _**our school, half-blood. We feed on whom we choose!"**_

_"Like Percy would let that happen." Grover said. _

Then she began to change. The color drained out of her face and arms. Her skin turned as white as chalk, her eyes completely red. Her teeth grew into fangs.

"A vampire!?" Leo yelled in surprise.

"A vampire!" I stammered. Then I noticed her legs. Below the cheerleader skirt, her left leg was brown and shaggy with a donkey's hoof. Her right leg was shaped like a human leg, but it was made of bronze. "Uhh, a vampire with—"

"Gross." Piper said.

"Don't mention the legs!" Tammi snapped. "It's rude to make fun!"

"And it's rude to kill people, and yet you still do it." Nico said.

She advanced on her weird, mismatched legs. She looked totally bizarre, especially with the pom-poms, but I couldn't laugh—not facing those red eyes and sharp fangs.

"Why does she have those. There useless."

"A vampire, you say?" Kelli laughed. "That silly legend was based on _**us, you fool. We are empousai, servants of Hecate."**_

"Mmmm." Tammi edged closer to me. "Dark magic formed us from animal, bronze, and ghost! We exist to feed on the blood of young men. Now come, give me that kiss!"

"Hades no." Leo shivered.

She bared her fangs. I was so paralyzed I couldn't move, but Rachel threw a snare drum at the _**empousa's **__**head**__**.**_

_Everyone looked shock for a moment before laughing and complementing Rachel._

The demon hissed and batted the drum away. It went rolling along the aisles between music stands, its springs rattling against the drumhead. Rachel threw a xylophone, but the demon just swatted that away, too.

Jason looked at Rachel with new a sense of respect. She was tuff.

"I don't usually kill girls," Tammi growled. "But for you, mortal, I'll make an exception. Your eyesight is a little too good!"

She lunged at Rachel.

"No!" I slashed with Riptide. Tammi tried to dodge my blade, but I sliced straight through her cheerleader uniform, and with a horrible wail she exploded into dust all over Rachel.

Everyone looked a little sick. Monster dust was horrible.

Rachel coughed. She looked like she'd just had a sack of flour dumped on her head. "Gross!"

"Monsters do that," I said. "Sorry."

"You killed my trainee!" Kelli yelled. "You need a lesson in school spirit, half-blood!"

"School spirit? Monsters are weird." Grover said.

Then she too began to change. Her wiry hair turned into flickering flames. Her eyes turned red. She grew fangs. She loped toward us, her brass foot and hoof clopping unevenly on the band-room floor.

"I am senior _**empousa," she growled. "No hero has bested me in a thousand years."**_

"Yeah?" I said. "Then you're overdue!"

There was a lot of eye rolling. By now everyone had realized that was just Percy.

Kelli was a lot faster than Tammi. She dodged my first strike and rolled into the brass section, knocking over a row of trombones with a mighty crash. Rachel scrambled out of the way. I put myself between her and the _**empousa. Kelli circled us, her eyes going from me to the sword.**_

"Such a pretty little blade," she said. "What a shame it stands between us."

Her form shimmered—sometimes a demon, sometimes a pretty cheerleader. I tried to keep my mind focused, but it was really distracting.

"Seriously! I hate when monsters do that." Leo said.

"Poor dear." Kelli chuckled. "You don't even know what's happening, do you? Soon, your pretty little camp in flames, your friends made slaves to the Lord of Time, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. It would be merciful to end your life now, before you have to see that."

Everyone narrowed their eyes. Camp Half-Blood was their home and they didn't like it being threatened.

From down the hall, I heard voices. A tour group was approaching. A man was saying something about locker combinations.

_The __**empousa's eyes lit up. "Excellent! We're about to have company!"**_

She picked up a tuba and threw it at me. Rachel and I ducked. The tuba sailed over our heads and crashed through the window.

The voices in the hall died down.

Annabeth groaned realizing what she was planning.

"Percy!" Kelli shouted, pretending to be scared, "why did you throw that?"

I was too surprised to answer. Kelli picked up a music stand and swiped a row of clarinets and flutes. Chairs and musical instruments crashed to the floor.

"Stop it!" I said.

People were tromping down the hall now, coming in our direction.

"Time to greet our visitors!" Kelli bared her fangs and ran for the doors. I charged after her with Riptide. I had to stop her from hurting the mortals.

"Percy, don't!" Rachel shouted. But I hadn't realized what Kelli was up to until it was too late.

Kelli flung open the doors. Paul Blofis and a bunch of freshmen stepped back in shock. I raised my sword.

At the last second, the _**empousa turned toward me like a cowering victim. "Oh no, please!" she cried. I couldn't stop my blade. It was already in motion.**_

"Great." Nico groaned. "Now he's going to be in trouble again."

Just before the celestial bronze hit her, Kelli exploded into flames like a Molotov cocktail. Waves of fire splashed over everything. I'd never seen a monster do that before, but I didn't have time to wonder about it. I backed into the band room as the flames engulfed the doorway.

"Percy?" Paul Blofis looked completely stunned, staring at me from across the fire. "What have you done?"

Kids screamed and ran down the hall. The fire alarm wailed. Ceiling sprinklers hissed to life.

In the chaos, Rachel tugged on my sleeve. "You have to get out of here!"

Rachel nodded. "They were looking at Percy like he was a criminal."

She was right. The school was in flames and I'd be held responsible. Mortals couldn't see through the Mist properly. To them it would look like I'd just attacked a helpless cheerleader in front of a group of witnesses. There was no way I could explain it. I turned from Paul and sprinted for the broken band room window.

I burst out of the alley onto East 81st and ran straight into Annabeth.

"that was not fun." Annabeth said.

"Hey, you're out early!" she laughed, grabbing my shoulders to keep me from tumbling into the street. "Watch where you're going, Seaweed Brain."

For a split second she was in a good mood and everything was fine. She was wearing jeans and an orange camp T-shirt and her clay bead necklace. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her gray eyes sparkled. She looked like she was ready to catch a movie, have a cool afternoon hanging out together.

"Which was ruined."

Then Rachel Elizabeth Dare, still covered in monster dust, came charging out of the alley, yelling, "Percy, wait up!"

Annabeth's smile melted. She stared at Rachel, then at the school. For the first time, she seemed to notice the black smoke and ringing fire alarms.

"That's pretty bad." Grover said.

She frowned at me. "What did you do this time? And who is this?"

"Oh, Rachel—Annabeth. Annabeth—Rachel. Um, she's a friend, I guess."

I wasn't sure what else to call Rachel. I mean, I barely knew her, but after being in two life-or-death situations together, I couldn't just call her nobody.

"He better not!" Rachel said.

"Hi," Rachel said. Then she turned to me. "You are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation!"

Police sirens wailed on FDR Drive.

"Percy," Annabeth said coldly. "We should go."

"Someone's angry." Leo said.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods." She grabbed my arm, whipped out a permanent marker, and wrote a phone number on my hand. "You're going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going."

"But—"

"I'll make up some story," Rachel said. "I'll tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!"

"Smart." Thalia said. "Good job, Rachel."

"Thanks."

She ran back toward the school, leaving Annabeth and me in the street.

"Hey!" I jogged after her. "There were these two _**empousai," **__**I tried to explain. "They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and—"**_

"You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?"

"She can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters before I did."

"Yeah not the best things to see."

"So you told her the truth?"

"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so—"

"You've met her _**before?"**_

_"You sound jealous." Travis and Connor sang, but shut up when Annabeth glared at them._

"Um, last winter. But seriously, I barely know her."

"She's kind of cute."

Rachel laughed. "Thanks Annabeth."

"No problem."

"I—I never thought about it."

Annabeth kept walking toward York Avenue.

"I'll deal with the school," I promised, anxious to change the subject. "Honest, it'll be fine."

Annabeth wouldn't even look at me. "I guess our afternoon is off. We should get you out of here, now that the police will be searching for you."

"Wow. You really are angry." Thalia said.

Behind us, smoke billowed up from Goode High School. In the dark column of ashes, I thought I could almost see a face—a she-demon with red eyes, laughing at me.

_**Your pretty little camp in flames, Kelli had said. Your friends made slaves to the Lord of Time.**_

_Again everyone narrowed their eyes._

"You're right," I told Annabeth, my heart sinking. "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. _**Now."**_

_"And done! Your turn Travis." Grover said handing him the book._

_Travis groaned but started, "The Underwood Sends me a prank Call."_

_**I am so sorry I haven't updated! There's just been a lot going on in my life and I lost my motivation for a while. I'll try to be better at updating.**_


	3. The Underworld Sends Me A Prank Call

**"The Underworld sends me a Prank Call"**

"The underworld sends me a prank call." Travis began

Nico frowned wondering what this was about.

"The underworld sends prank calls?" Leo asked.

Piper sighed. "Of course not."

"But...then whys the chapter called...?"

"If you'd let Travis read then we can find out."

**Nothing caps off the perfect morning like a long taxi ride with an angry girl.**

The boys all shuddered. No that would not be fun.

**I tried to talk to Annabeth, but she was acting like I'd just punched her grandmother. All I managed to get out of her was that she'd had a monster infested spring in San Francisco; she'd come back to camp twice since Christmas but wouldn't tell me why (which kind of ticked me off, because she hadn't even told me she was in New York);**

Annabeth frowned. She had been returning to camp because of the labyrinth.

**and she'd learned nothing about the whereabouts of Nico di Angelo (long story).**

Nico winced.

**"Any word on Luke?" I asked.**

**She shook her head. I knew this was a touchy subject for her. Annabeth had always admired Luke, the former head counselor for Hermes who had betrayed us and joined the evil Titan Lord Kronos. She wouldn't admit it, but I knew she still liked him.**

Annabeth sighed as the others looked at her. Percy was right, back then she still thought she liked Luke, but was confused because of her feelings for Percy, too.

**When we'd fought Luke on Mount Tamalpais last winter, he'd somehow survived a fifty-foot fall off a cliff. **

Those who knew how winced.

**Now, as far as I knew, he was still sailing around on his demon-infested cruise ship while his chopped-up Lord Kronos re-formed, bit by bit, in a golden sarcophagus, biding his time until he had enough power to challenge the Olympian gods.**

All the demigods hissed. They might not be close to their parents but they still didn't like the idea of people attacking them.

**In demigod-speak, we call this a "problem."**

Everyone laughed. That was such a Percy thing to say...well think.

**"I think that might be a little bit of an understatement." Thalia smirked. **

**"Mount Tam is still overrun with monsters," Annabeth said. "I didn't dare go close, but I don't think Luke is up there. I think I would know if he was."**

**That didn't make me feel much better. "What about Grover?"**

Grover smiled. No matter how much he heard it, it was really nice to hear Percy worrying about him.

**"He's at camp," she said. "We'll see him today."**

**"Did he have any luck? I mean, with the search for Pan?"**

"Sadly not really."

**Annabeth fingered her bead necklace, the way she does when she's worried.**

Rachel smirked. "He really does notice a lot about you, Annabeth."

Said girl blushed as the others laughed.

**"You'll see," she said. But she didn't explain.**

"That is extremely annoying when you do that." Grover said.

**As we headed through Brooklyn, I used Annabeth's phone to call my mom. Half-bloods try not to use cell phones if we can avoid it, because broadcasting our voices is like sending up a flare to the monsters: **_**Here I am! Please eat me now! **_

Everyone snorted.

"He sure has a way with words." Connor said.

**But I figured this call was important. I left a message on our home voice mail, trying to explain what had happened at Goode. I probably didn't do a very good job. I told my mom I was fine, she shouldn't worry, but I was going to stay at camp until things cooled down. I asked her to tell Paul Blofis I was sorry.**

"Paul's really cool. He handles all this really well." Nico said.

**We rode in silence after that. The city melted away until we were off the expressway and rolling through the countryside of northern Long Island, past orchards and wineries and fresh produce stands.**

**I stared at the phone number Rachel Elizabeth Dare had scrawled on my hand. I knew it was crazy, but I was tempted to call her.** **Maybe she could help me understand what the **_**empousa **_**had been talking about—the camp burning, my friends imprisoned. And why had Kelli exploded into flames?**

"Sadly I would not be any help trying to understand that. At least not then."

"I don't know." Clarisse said. "Your till confuse everyone."

Rachel grinned sheepishly.

**I knew monsters never truly died. Eventually—maybe weeks, months, or years from now—Kelli would re-form out of the primordial nastiness seething in the Underworld. But still, monsters didn't usually let themselves get destroyed so easily. If she really **_**was **_**destroyed.**

"Nope." Jason said, dragging out the 'p'.

**The taxi exited on Route 25A. We headed through the woods along the North Shore until a low ****ridge of hills appeared on our left. Annabeth told the driver to pull over on Farm Road 3.141, at the base of Half-Blood Hill.**

**The driver frowned. "There ain't nothing here, miss. You sure you want out?"**

**"Yes, please," Annabeth handed him a roll of mortal cash, and the driver decided not to argue.**

Travis and Connor grinned. "Of course not."

**Annabeth and I hiked to the crest of the hill. The young guardian dragon was dozing, coiled around the pine tree, but he lifted his coppery head as we approached and let Annabeth scratch under his chin. Steam hissed out his nostrils like from a teakettle, and he went cross-eyed with pleasure.**

Leo grinned. "Dragons are so cool."

Piper and Jason rolled their eyes knowing he was talking abou**t Fetus.**

**"Hey, Peleus," Annabeth said. "Keeping everything safe?"**

**The last time I'd seen the dragon he'd been six feet long. **

**Now he was at least twice that, and as thick around as the tree itself. **

"He did grow pretty fast." Grover agreed.

**Above his head, on the lowest branch of the pine tree, the Golden Fleece shimmered, its magic protecting the camp's borders from invasion. The dragon seemed relaxed, like everything was okay. Below us, Camp Half-Blood looked peaceful— green fields, forest, and shiny white Greek buildings. The four-story farmhouse we called the Big House sat proudly in the midst of the strawberry fields. To the north, past the beach, the Long Island Sound glittered in the sunlight.**

All the Greeks sighed. "I love camp."

Jason frowned. He liked camp a lot, also, but being Roman made it harder for it to feel like home.

**Still…something felt wrong. **

Thalia sighed. "He always did have good senses."

**There was tension in the air, as if the hill itself were holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen.**

All but the lost hero trio winced. Something bad did happen. And they lost campers because of it.

**We walked down into the valley and found the summer session in full swing. Most of the campers had arrived last Friday, so I already felt out of it.**

**"That's a crappy feeling." Leo muttered.**

**The satyrs were playing their pipes in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow with woodland magic. Campers were having flying horseback lessons, swooping over the woods on their pegasi. Smoke rose from the forges, and hammers rang as kids made their own weapons for Arts & Crafts. The Athena and Demeter teams were having a chariot race around the track, and over at the canoe lake some kids in a Greek trireme were fighting a large orange sea serpent. A typical day at camp.**

Everyone laughed at that. It did sound odd, but that was a typical day at camp.

**"I need to talk to Clarisse," Annabeth said.**

**I stared at her as if she'd just said **_**I need to eat a large, smelly boot**_**.**

Clarisse raised an eyebrow as the others snorted.

**"What for?"**

**Clarisse from the Ares cabin was one of my least favorite people.**

Although she would _never_ admit it, it was nice feeling knowing that Percy was her friend now and that he cared about her.

**She was a mean, ungrateful bully. Her dad, the war god, wanted to kill me. **

"Nothing knew there." Clarisse said.

**She tried to beat me to a pulp on a regular basis. Other than that, she was just great.**

**"We've been working on something," Annabeth said. "I'll see you later."**

**"Working on what?"**

**Annabeth glanced toward the forest.**

Leo frowned, hating what it felt like to be left out. "You could've answered him." He said to Annabeth who just shrugged.

**"I'll tell Chiron you're here," she said. "He'll want to talk to you before the hearing."**

**"What hearing?"**

**But she jogged down the path toward the archery field without looking back.**

**"Yeah," I muttered. "Great talking with you, too."**

Now Annabeth winced feeling guilty.

**As I made my way through camp, I said hi to some of my friends. In the Big House's driveway, Connor and Travis Stoll from the Hermes cabin were hot-wiring the camps SUV. **

The two brothers grinned at each other.

**Silena Beauregard, the head counselor for Aphrodite, waved at me from her Pegasus as she flew past. **

Everyone owed their head at the mention of Silena.

**I looked for Grover, but I didn't see him. Finally I wandered into the sword arena, where I usually go when I'm in a bad mood. Practicing always calms me down.**

**Maybe that's because swordplay is one thing I can actually understand.**

Annabeth frowned. "That's not true!"

**I walked into the amphitheater and my heart almost stopped. In the middle of the arena floor, with its back to me, was the biggest hell hound I'd ever seen.**

"Mrs. O'Leary." Nico said fondly.

**I mean, I've seen some pretty big hell hounds. One the size of a rhino tried to kill me when I was twelve. **

**But **_**this hell hound**_** was bigger than a tank. I had no idea how it had gotten past the camp's magic boundaries. It looked right at home, lying on its belly, growling contentedly as it chewed the head off a combat dummy. It hadn't noticed me yet, but if I made a sound, I knew it would sense me. There was no time to go for help. I pulled out Riptide and uncapped it.**

"He attacked her?" Jason asked. From what he had heard Percy was very close to the hell hound.

"In his defense, he had no idea she was a nice hell hound." Thalia said.

**"Yaaaaah!" I charged. I brought down the blade on the monster's enormous backside when out ****of nowhere another sword blocked my strike.**

**CLANG!**

**The hell hound pricked up its ears. **_**"WOOF!"**_

**I jumped back and instinctively struck at the swordsman—a gray-haired man in Greek armor. He parried my attack with no problem.**

Nico frowned. He had mix feelings about Daedalus. He was a good guy over all, but he didn't like how he had stayed a live for so long. It just wasn't natural.

**"Whoa there!" he said. "Truce!"**

**"**_**WOOF!" **_**The hell hound's bark shook the arena.**

Grover winced, rubbing his ears. "She does have a loud bark."

**"That's a hell hound!" I shouted.**

**"She's harmless," the man said. "That's Mrs. O'Leary."**

Rachel grinned. "Harmless to all she likes. Very scary if she's attacking you."

**I blinked. "Mrs. O'Leary?"**

**At the sound of her name, the hell hound barked again. I realized she wasn't angry. She was excited. She nudged the soggy, badly chewed target dummy toward the swordsman.**

Piper wrinkled her nose.

**"Good girl," the man said. With his free hand he grabbed the armored manikin by the neck and heaved it toward the bleachers. "Get the Greek! Get the Greek!"**

"Well." Leo said. "Let's never play that game with her. I don't want to be Greek shish-kabob.

**Mrs. O'Leary bounded after her prey and pounced on the dummy, flattening its armor. She began chewing on its helmet.**

**The swordsman smiled dryly. He was in his fifties.**

Nico snorted. "Much older then that." He muttered to himself.

**I guess, with short gray hair and a clipped gray beard. He was in good shape for an older guy.**

**He wore black mountain-climbing pants and a bronze breastplate strapped over an orange camp T-shirt. At the base of his neck was a strange mark, a purplish blotch like a birthmark or a tattoo, but before I could make out what it was, he shifted his armor straps and the mark disappeared under his collar.**

Annabeth frowned knowing what the mark was.

**"Mrs. O'Leary is my pet," he explained. "I couldn't let you stick a sword in her rump, now, could I? That might have scared her."**

"Scared her?" Piper asked. "What about scaring Percy?"

**"Who are you?"**

"**Promise not to kill me if I put my sword away?"**

**"I guess."**

**He sheathed his sword and held out his hand. "Quintus."**

"The fifth." Annabeth whispered remembering how he said that was his fifth body.

**I shook his hand. It was as rough as sandpaper.**

**"Percy Jackson," I said. "Sorry about—How did you, um—"**

**"Get a hell hound for a pet? Long story, involving many close calls with a death and quite a few giant chew toys. I'm the new sword instructor, by the way. Helping out Chiron while Mr. D is away."**

"That was the only good thing that summer." Clarisse said.

**"Oh." I tried not to stare as Mrs. O'Leary ripped off the target dummy's shield with the arm still attached and shook it like a Frisbee. **

"Yeah...Probably not the most comforting sight."

**"Wait, Mr. D is away?"**

**"Yes, well…busy times. Even Dionysus must help out. He's gone to visit some old friends. Make sure they're on the right side. I probably shouldn't say more than that."**

**If Dionysus was gone, that was the best news I'd had all day. **

Everyone laughed. The two did have an odd relationship.

**He was only our camp director because Zeus had sent him here as a punishment for chasing some off-limits wood nymph. He hated the campers and tried to make our lives miserable. With him away, this summer might actually be cool. On the other hand, if Dionysus had gotten off his butt and actually started helping the gods recruit against the Titan threat, things must be looking pretty bad.**

"Thats a good point." Thalia agreed.

**Off to my left, there was a loud **_**BUMP**_**. Six wooden crates the size of picnic tables were stacked nearby, and they were rattling. Mrs. O'Leary cocked her head and bounded toward them.**

**"Whoa, girl!" Quintus said. "Those aren't for you." He distracted her with the bronze shield Frisbee.**

Leo laughed. Well you hear something new everyday. A ''bronze shield Frisbee', never imagined I'd hear someone say that."

**The crates thumped and shook. There were words printed on the sides, but with my dyslexia they took me a few minutes to decipher:**

**TRIPLE G RANCH**

**FRAGILE**

**THIS END UP**

**Along the bottom, in smaller letters: OPEN WITH CARE. TRIPLE G RANCH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE, MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.**

"Stupid boxes." Annabeth and Grover muttered.

**"What's in the boxes?" I asked.**

**"A little surprise," Quintus said. "Training activity for tomorrow night. You'll love it."**

"Not-uh. Nobody loved those." Clarisse said. "They were annoying."

**"Uh, okay," I said, though I wasn't sure about the "excruciatingly painful death" part.**

**Quintus threw the bronze shield, and Mrs. O'Leary lumbered after it.**

**"You young ones need more challenges. They didn't have camps like this when I was a boy."**

"They weren't as necessary beck then." Nico said, more to himself then anything.

**"You—you're a half-blood?" I didn't mean to sound surprised, but I'd never seen an old demigod before.**

**Quintus chuckled. "Some of us **_**do **_**survive into adulthood, you know. Not all of us are the subjects of terrible prophecies."**

The demigods in the room winced.

"I hate prophecies." Piper muttered.

**"You know about my prophecy?"**

**"I've heard a few things."**

**I wanted to ask **_**what **_**few things, but just then Chiron clip-clopped into the arena. "Percy, there you are!"**

**He must've just come from teaching archery. He had a quiver and bow slung over his #1 CENTAUR T-shirt. **

Annabeth smiled fondly. Chiron really did love that shirt.

**He'd trimmed his curly brown hair and beard for the summer, and his lower half, which was a white stallion, was flecked with mud and grass.**

**"I see you've met our new instructor." Chiron's tone was light, but there was an uneasy look in his eyes.**

Clarisse nodded. They had all been a little suspicious of him.

**"Quintus, do you mind if I borrow Percy?"**

**"Not at all, Master Chiron."**

**"No need to call me 'Master'," Chiron said, though he sounded sort of pleased. **

Everyone laughed.

**"Come, Percy. We have much to discuss."**

**I took one more glance at Mrs. O'Leary, who was now chewing off the target dummy's legs.**

**"Well, see you," I told Quintus.**

**As we were walking away, I whispered to Chiron, "Quintus seemed kind of—"**

"Odd." Thalia said. "But he's a good swordsmen."

**"Mysterious?" Chiron suggested. "Hard to read?"**

**"Yeah."**

**Chiron nodded. "A very qualified half-blood. Excellent swordsman, I just wish I understood…"**

**Whatever he was going to say, he apparently changed his mind. "First things first, Percy. ****Annabeth told me you met some **_**empousai**_**."**

"Stupid monsters." Annabeth growled. She did not like how they affected Percy.

**"Yeah." I told him about the fight at Goode, and how Kelli had exploded into flames.**

**"Mm," Chiron said. "The more powerful ones can do that. She did not die, Percy. She simply escaped. It is not good that the she-demons are stirring."**

**"What were they doing there?" I asked. "Waiting for me?"**

"Probably. It seems like every monster has it out for Percy." Rachel said as those who knew him nodded.

**"Possibly," Chiron frowned. "It is amazing you survived. Their powers of deception…almost any male hero would've fallen under their spell and been devoured."**

"Good thing Rachel was there then." Piper said, smiling to said girl.

**"I would've been," I admitted. "Except for Rachel."**

**Chiron nodded. "Ironic to be saved by a mortal, yet we owe her a debt. What the **_**empousa **_**said about an attack on camp—we must speak of this further. But for now, come, we should get to the woods. Grover will want you there."**

Grover nodded, agreeing with book Chiron.

**"Where?"**

**"At his formal hearing," Chiron said grimly. "The Council of Cloven Elders is meeting now to decide his fate."**

Leo, Jason, and Piper looked confused while Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico looked furious.

**Chiron said we needed to hurry, so I let him give me a ride on his back.**

"Lucky! I wana ride Chiron." Travis said.

Connor nodded. "That would be so sweet."

**As we galloped past the cabins, I glanced at the dining hall—an open-air Greek pavilion on a hill overlooking the sea. It was the first time I'd seen the place since last summer, and it brought back bad memories.**

Nico sighed. He felt bad for making Percy worry about him.

**Chiron plunged into the woods. Nymphs peeked out of the trees to watch us pass. Large shapes rustled in the shadows—monsters that were stocked in here as a challenge to the campers.**

**I thought I knew the forest pretty well after playing capture the flag here for two summers, but Chiron took me a way I didn't recognize, through a tunnel of old willow trees, past a little waterfall, and into a glade blanketed with wildflowers.**

"The council is farther in." Grover said.

**A bunch of satyrs were sitting in a circle in the grass. Grover stood in the middle, facing three really old, really fat satyrs who sat on topiary thrones shaped out of rose bushes. I'd never seen the three old satyrs before, but I guessed they must be the Council of Cloven Elders.**

Everyone, especially Grover, laughed at their descriptions.

**Grover seemed to be telling them a story. He twisted the bottom of his Tshirt, shifting nervously**

Grover nodded. "I was freaking out."

** on his goat hooves. He hadn't changed much since last winter, maybe because satyrs age half as fast as humans. His acne had flared up. His horns had gotten a little bigger so they just stuck out over his curly hair. I realized with a start that I was taller than he was now.**

Those who had met Percy laughed. "He finally hit his growth sport."

**Standing off to one side of the circle were Annabeth, another girl I'd never seen before, and Clarisse. Chiron dropped me next to them.**

**Clarisse's stringy brown hair was tied back with a camouflage bandanna.**

**If possible, she looked even buffer, like she'd been working out.**

Clarisse winced. Although she liked that she was buffer, the reasons for it wasn't worth it.

**She glared at me and muttered, "Punk," which must've meant she was in a good mood.**

The others laughed as Clarisse smirked.

**Usually she says hello by trying to kill me.**

**Annabeth had her arm around the other girl, who looked like she'd been crying. She was small—petite, I guess you'd call it—with wispy hair the color of amber and a pretty, elfish face. She wore a green chiton and laced sandals, and she was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "It's going terribly," she sniffled.**

"Whats going on?" Leo asked.

"The book will answer you." Thalia said.

**"No, no," Annabeth patted her shoulders. "He'll be fine, Juniper."**

**Annabeth looked at me and mouthed the words **_**Grover's girlfriend**_**.**

**At least I thought that's what she said, but that didn't make any sense.** **Grover with a girlfriend? **

"Gee thanks." Grover said dryly as the others laughed.

**Then I looked at Juniper more closely, and I realized her ears were slightly pointed. Her eyes, instead of being red from crying, were tinged green, the color of chlorophyll. She was a tree nymph— a dryad.**

Rachel rolled her eyes. "He can be so slow sometimes."

**"Master Underwood!" the council member on the right shouted, cutting off whatever Grover was trying to say. "Do you seriously expect us to believe this?"**

"Well that was rude." Piper muttered,

**"B-but Silenus," Grover stammered. "It's the truth!"**

**The Council guy, Silenus, turned to his colleagues and muttered something. Chiron cantered up to the front and stood next to them. I remembered he was an honorary member of the council, but I'd never thought about it much. The elders didn't look very impressive. They reminded me of the goats in a petting zoo—huge bellies, sleepy expressions, and glazed eyes that couldn't see past the next handful of goat chow. **

Once again everyone laughed. You just had to love Percy's descriptions

**I wasn't sure why Grover seemed so nervous.**

**Silenus tugged his yellow polo shirt over his belly and adjusted himself on his rosebush throne. "Master Underwood, for six months—**_**six months**_**— we have been hearing these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak."**

"But he did." Jason said.

"Yeah, well those stupid idiots don't believe him." Thalia told her brother.

**"But I did!"**

**"Impudence!" said the elder on the left.**

"Gods they're rude." Piper said, annoyed.

**"Now, Maron," Chiron said. "Patience."**

**"Patience, indeed!" Maron said. "I've had it up to my horns with this nonsense. As if the wild god would speak to…to **_**him**_**."**

Everyone glared at the book. "Grover's the best Satyr there is!" Annabeth said.

**Juniper looked like she wanted to charge the old satyr and beat him up, but Annabeth and Clarisse held her back. "Wrong fight, girlie," Clarisse muttered. "Wait."**

Those who weren't there looked at Clarisse in surprise."  
"What?" She snapped. "I know when you fight and when you don't."

"Still surprising." Connor whispered to Travis who nodded his head in agreement.

**I don't know what surprised me more: Clarisse holding someone back from a fight, or the fact that she and Annabeth, who despised each other, almost seemed like they were working together.**

The two girls smirked. "It was a little weird at first." Annabeth admitted.

"But we actually work well together." Clarisse said.

**"For six months," Silenus continued, "we have indulged you, Master Underwood. We let you travel. We allowed you to keep your searcher's license. We waited for you to bring proof of your preposterous claim. And what have you found in six months of travel?"**

**"I just need more time," Grover pleaded.**

**"Nothing!" the elder in the middle chimed in. "You have found nothing."**

"He found more then anyone else, though." Leo said.

**"But, Leneus—"**

**Silenus raised his hand. Chiron leaned in and said something to the satyrs.**

**The satyrs didn't look happy. They muttered and argued among themselves, but Chiron said something else, and Silenus sighed. He nodded reluctantly.**

"Chiron's really good at convincing people." Rachel said.

**"Master Underwood," Silenus announced, "we will give you one more chance."**

**Grover brightened. "Thank you!"**

**"One more week."**

Jason groaned. "Are they crazy!? Thats impossible."

Grover shrugged. "They didn't really care."

**"What? But sir! That's impossible!"**

**"One more week, Master Underwood. And then, if you cannot prove your claims, it will be time for you to pursue another career. Something to suit your dramatic talents. Puppet theater, perhaps. Or tap dancing."**

**"But sir, I—I can't lose my searcher's license. My whole life—"**

**"This meeting of the council is adjourned," Silenus said. "And now let us enjoy our noonday meal!"**

"Jerks." Piper muttered.

**The old satyr clapped his hands, and a bunch of nymphs melted out of the trees with platters of vegetables, fruits, tin cans, and other goat delicacies.**

**The circle of satyrs broke and charged the food. Grover walked dejectedly toward us. His faded blue T-shirt had a picture of a satyr on it. It read GOT HOOVES?**

Leo grinned. "Nice shirt."

**"Hi, Percy," he said, so depressed he didn't even offer to shake my hand. "That went well, huh?"**

**"Those old goats!" Juniper said. "Oh, Grover, they don't know how hard you've tried!"**

**"There is another option," Clarisse said darkly.**

"What other option?" Jason asked.

"You'll see."

**"No. No." Juniper shook her head. "Grover, I won't let you."**

**His face was ashen. "I—I'll have to think about it. But we don't even know where to look."**

**"What are you talking about?" I asked.**

**In the distance, a conch horn sounded.**

**Annabeth pursed her lips. "I'll fill you in later, Percy. We'd better get back to our cabins. Inspection is starting."**

The Stoll brothers groaned. They hated inspection.

**It didn't seem fair that I'd have to do cabin inspection when I just got to camp, but that's the way it worked. Every afternoon, one of the senior counselors came around with a papyrus scroll checklist. Best cabin got first shower hour, which meant hot water guaranteed. Worst cabin got kitchen patrol after dinner.**

**The problem for me: I was usually the only one in the Poseidon cabin, and I'm not exactly what you would call neat. **

Annabeth snorted. "That is a big understatement."

**The cleaning harpies only came through on the last day of summer, so my cabin was probably just the way I'd left it on winter break: my candy wrappers and chip bags still on my bunk, my armor for capture the flag lying in pieces all around the cabin.**

"Yeah, thats messy." Rachel said.

**I raced toward the commons area, where the twelve cabins—one for each Olympian god—made a U around the central green. The Demeter kids were sweeping out theirs and making fresh ****flowers grow in their window boxes.**

Rachel smiled. She loved flowers.

**Just by snapping their fingers they could make honeysuckle vines bloom over their doorway and daisies cover their roof, which was totally unfair. I don't think they ever got last place in inspection. **

"Not that I can remember." Annabeth said.

**The guys in the Hermes cabin were scrambling around in a panic, stashing dirty laundry under their beds and accusing each other of taking stuff. They were slobs, but they still had a head start on me.**

The two brothers grinned at each other, not even bothering to deny it.

**Over at the Aphrodite cabin, Silena Beauregard was just coming out, checking items off the inspection scroll. I cursed under my breath. Silena was nice, but she was an absolute neat freak, the worst inspector.**

Clarisse smiled sadly. Silena was incredibly nice, but she was also a big neat freak.

**She liked things to be pretty. I didn't do "pretty."**

The girls, except Clarisse, rolled their eyes while the boys agreed.

"I would pay to see Percy try and make his cabin 'pretty'." Nico grinned.

**I could almost feel my arms getting heavy from all the dishes I would have to scrub tonight.**

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**The Poseidon cabin was at the end of the row of "male god" cabins on the right side of the green. It was made of gray shell-encrusted sea rock, long and low like a bunker, but it had windows that faced the sea and it always had a good breeze blowing through it.**

"It's actually a nice cabin." Thalia admitted.

**I dashed inside, wondering if maybe I could do a quick under-the-bed cleaning job like the Hermes guys, and I found my half-brother Tyson sweeping the floor.**

"Well that'll take care of the inspection.' Rachel said, grinning, knowing how well Tyson could clean.

**"Percy!" he bellowed. He dropped his broom and ran at me. If you've never been charged by an enthusiastic Cyclops wearing a flowered apron and rubber cleaning gloves, I'm telling you, it'll wake you up quick.'**

Everyone laughed. Tyson was just someone you couldn't help but like.

"I have to admit I'd like to see a cyclops wearing that." Leo laughed.

**"Hey, big guy!" I said. "Ow, watch the ribs. The ribs."**

**I managed to survive his bear hug. He put me down, grinning like crazy, his single calf-brown eye full of excitement. His teeth were as yellow and crooked as ever, and his hair was a rat's nest. He wore ragged XXXL jeans and a tattered flannel shirt under his flowered apron, but he was still a sight for sore eyes. I hadn't seen him in almost a year, since he'd gone under the sea to work at the Cyclopes' forges.**

"Percy definitely happy to see him again." Grover said.

**"You are okay?" he asked. "Not eaten by monsters?"**

**"Not even a little bit." I showed him that I still had both arms and both legs, and Tyson clapped happily.**

Again everyone laughed, fondly.

**"Yay!" he said. "Now we can eat peanut butter sandwiches and ride fish ponies! We can fight monsters and see Annabeth and make things go BOOM!"**

Leo grinned. "Making things go 'boom'? Now that sounds fun!"

**I hoped he didn't mean all at the same time, **

**"That would be interesting." Clarisse said. **

**but I told him absolutely, we'd have a lot of fun this summer. I couldn't help smiling; he was so enthusiastic about everything.**

**"But first," I said, "we've gotta worry about inspection. We should…"**

**Then I looked around and realized Tyson had been busy. The floor was swept. The bunk beds were made. The saltwater fountain in the corner had been freshly scrubbed so the coral gleamed. On the windowsills, Tyson had set out water-filled vases with sea anemones and strange glowing plants from the bottom of the ocean; more beautiful than any flower bouquets the Demeter kids could whip up.**

"Wow." Piper and Rachel said. "Thats amazing."

**"Tyson, the cabin looks…amazing!"**

**He beamed. "See the fish ponies? I put them on the ceiling!"**

**A herd of miniature bronze hippocampi hung on wires from the ceiling, so it looked like they were swimming through the air. I couldn't believe Tyson, with his huge hands, could make things so delicate. Then I looked over at my bunk, and I saw my old shield hanging on the wall.**

**"You fixed it!"**

"Oh I can't wait to meet Tyson! Do you have any idea the things the two of us could make together." Leo said.

**The shield had been badly damaged in a manticore attack last winter. But now it was perfect again—not a scratch. All the bronze pictures of my adventures with Tyson and Annabeth in the Sea of Monsters were polished and gleaming.**

**I looked at Tyson. I didn't know how to thank him.**

"He would understand." Annabeth said.

**Then somebody behind me said, "Oh, my."**

**Silena Beauregard was standing in the doorway with her inspection scroll.**

**She stepped into the cabin, did a quick twirl, then raised her eyebrows at me.**

Piper laughed. "She must have been surprised."

**"Well, I had my doubts. But you clean up nicely, Percy. I'll remember that."**

"Well considering Tyson did all the work, she was right to have her doubts." Nico said.

**She winked at me and left the room.**

**Tyson and I spent the afternoon catching up and just hanging out, which was nice after a ****morning of getting attacked by demon cheerleaders.**

"Yeah, I'd bet." Jason agreed.

**We went down to the forge and helped Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin with his metalworking. Tyson showed us how he'd learned to craft magic weapons. He fashioned a flaming double-bladed war axe so fast even Beckendorf was impressed.**

Once again everyone smiled sadly. Beckendorf shouldn't have died.

**While he worked, Tyson told us about his year under the sea. His eye lit up when he described the Cyclopes' forges and the palace of Poseidon, but he also told us how tense things were. The old gods of the sea, who'd ruled during Titan times, were starting to make war on our father. **

Thalia frowned. "That wasn't good."

**When Tyson had left, battles had been raging all over the Atlantic. Hearing that made me feel anxious, like I should be helping out, but Tyson assured me that Dad wanted us both at camp.**

**"Lots of bad people above the sea, too," Tyson said. "We can make them go boom."**

Everyone smirked.

**After the forges, we spent some time at the canoe lake with Annabeth.**

**She was really glad to see Tyson, but I could tell she was distracted. She kept looking over at the forest, like she was thinking about Grover's problem with the council. **

Annabeth smiled a little. Percy really did know her well.

**I couldn't blame her. Grover was nowhere to be seen, and I felt really bad for him. Finding the lost god Pan had been his lifelong goal.**

Grover sighed. He was happy he exceeded but he still wished Pan didn't have to fade.

**His father and his uncle had both disappeared following the same dream.**

**Last winter, Grover had heard a voice in his head: **_**I await you—**_**a voice he was sure belonged to Pan—**

"Thats cause it did." Leo said.

**but apparently his search had led nowhere. If the council took away his searcher's license now, it would crush him.**

**"What's this 'other way'?" I asked Annabeth. "The thing Clarisse mentioned?"**

**She picked up a stone and skipped it across the lake. "Something Clarisse scouted out. I helped her a little this spring. But it would be dangerous. Especially for Grover."**

Grover winced. He hated that year.

**"Goat boy scares me," Tyson murmured.**

Everyone, especially Grover, started at the book in surprise.

"Well." Grover said. "It's nice that were friends now."

**I stared at him. Tyson had faced down fire-breathing bulls and sea monsters and cannibal giants.**

**"Why would you be scared of Grover?"**

**"Hooves and horns," Tyson muttered nervously. "And goat fur makes my nose itchy."**

"Ah." Grover said. "Yeah that would suck."

**And that pretty much ended our Grover conversation.**

**Before dinner, Tyson and I went down to the sword arena. Quintus was glad to have company. He still wouldn't tell me what was in the wooden crates, but he did teach me a few sword moves. The guy was good. He fought the way some people play chess—like he was putting all the moves together and you couldn't see the pattern until he made the last stroke and won with a sword at your throat.**

"He was good." Annabeth said.

**"Good try," he told me. "But your guard is too low."**

**He lunged and I blocked.**

**"Have you always been a swordsman?" I asked.**

**He parried my overhead cut. "I've been many things."**

Nico couldn't help but give a small snort.

**He jabbed and I sidestepped. His shoulder strap slipped down, and I saw that mark on his neck—the purple blotch. But it wasn't a random mark. It had a definite shape—a bird with folded wings, like a quail or something.**

**"What's that on your neck?" I asked, which was probably a rude question, but you can blame my ADHD. I tend to just blurt things out.**

"No that's just a Percy thing." Thalia said.

**Quintus lost his rhythm. I hit his sword hilt and knocked the blade out of his hand.**

**He rubbed his fingers. Then he shifted his armor to hide the mark. It wasn't a tattoo, I realized. It was an old burn…like he'd been branded.**

**"A reminder." He picked up his sword and forced a smile. "Now, shall we go again?"**

**He pressed me hard, not giving me time for any more questions.**

**While he and I fought, Tyson played with Mrs. O'Leary, who he called the "little doggie."** **They had a great time wrestling for the bronze shield and playing Get the Greek. **

"Those two do get along well." Rachel said.

**By sunset, Quintus hadn't even broken a sweat, which seemed kind of strange; but Tyson and I were hot and sticky, so we hit the showers and got ready for dinner.**

**I was feeling good. It was almost like a normal day at camp. Then dinner came, and all the campers lined up by cabin and marched into the dining pavilion. Most of them ignored the sealed fissure in the marble floor at the entrance—a ten-foot-long jagged scar that hadn't been there last summer— but I was careful to step over it.**

Nico winced and Thalia put a hand on his shoulder.

**"Big crack," Tyson said when we were at our table. "Earthquake, maybe?"**

**"No," I said. "Not an earthquake."**

**I wasn't sure I should tell him. It was a secret only Annabeth and Grover and I knew. But looking in Tyson's big eye, I knew I couldn't hide it from him.**

Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, and Grover grinned at each other. It was just so Percy.

**"Nico di Angelo," I said, lowering my voice. "He's this half-blood kid we brought to camp last winter. He, uh…he asked me to guard his sister on a quest, and I failed. She died. Now he blames me."**

Nico winced again. "Not anymore."

**Tyson frowned. "So he put a crack in the floor?"**

**"These skeletons attacked us," I said. "Nico told them to go away, and the ground just opened up and swallowed them. Nico…" I looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Nico is a son of Hades."**

"And extremely awesome." Travis and Connor said. The two had grown fond of him and considered him a good friend.

Nico smiled in thanks at the two**.**

**Tyson nodded thoughtfully. "The god of dead people."**

**"Yeah."**

**"So the Nico boy is gone now?"**

**"I—I guess. I tried to search for him this spring. So did Annabeth. But we didn't have any luck. This is secret, Tyson. Okay? If anyone found out he was a son of Hades, he would be in danger. You can't even tell Chiron."**

Nico smiled. He really did owe Percy a lot.

**"The bad prophecy," Tyson said. "Titans might use him if they knew."**

**I stared at him. Sometimes it was easy to forget that as big and childlike as he was, Tyson was pretty smart. **

"Thats true." Thalia agreed.

**He knew that the next child of the Big Three gods—Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades—who turned sixteen was prophesied to either save or destroy Mount Olympus. Most people assumed that meant me, but if I died before I turned sixteen, the prophecy could just as easily apply to Nico.**

Nico shuddered. He was so glad that it wasn't him.

**"Exactly," I said. "So—"**

**"Mouth sealed," Tyson promised. "Like the crack in the ground."**

There was some laughs at this.

**I had trouble falling asleep that night. I lay in bed listening to the waves on the beach, and the owls and monsters in the woods. I was afraid once I drifted off I'd have nightmares.**

**See, for half-bloods, dreams are hardly ever just dreams. We get messages.**

"And Percy's are always bad." Grover said.

**We glimpse things that are happening to our friends or enemies. Sometimes we even glimpse the past or the future. And at camp, my dreams were always more frequent and vivid.**

The demigods sighed. They hated having dreams.

**So I was still awake around midnight, staring at the bunk bed mattress above me, when I realized ****there was a strange light in the room. The saltwater fountain was glowing.**

**I threw off the covers and walked cautiously toward it. Steam rose from the hot salt water. Rainbow colors shimmered through it, though there was no light in the room except for the moon outside. Then a pleasant female voice spoke from the steam: **_**Please deposit one drachma**_**.**

"Isn't this his first time getting a message?" Rachel asked. Annabeth nodded.

**I looked over at Tyson, but he was still snoring. He sleeps about as heavily as a tranquilized elephant.**

There was laughs and everyone who met Tyson nodded in agreement.

**I didn't know what to think. I'd never gotten a collect Iris-message before.**

**One golden drachma gleamed at the bottom of the fountain. I scooped it up and tossed it through the mist. The coin vanished.**

**"O, Iris, Goddess of the rainbow," I whispered. "Show me…Uh, whatever you need to show me."**

**The mist shimmered. I saw the dark shore of a river. Wisps of fog drifted across black water. The beach was strewn with jagged volcanic rock. A young boy squatted at the riverbank, tending a campfire. The flames burned an unnatural blue color. Then I saw the boy's face. It was Nico di Angelo.**

Nico frowned. He never sent an iris-message to Percy that year.

**He was throwing pieces of paper into the fire—Mythomagic trading cards, part of the game he'd been obsessed with last winter.**

Nico blushed as the others grinned at him.

**Nico was only ten, or maybe eleven by now, but he looked older. His hair had grown longer. It was shaggy and almost touched his shoulders. His eyes were dark. His olive skin had turned paler. He wore ripped black jeans and a battered aviator's jacket that was several sizes too big, unzipped over a black shirt. His face was grimy, his eyes a little wild. He looked like a kid who'd been living on the streets.**

Nico sighed. That had not been a fun year.

**I waited for him to look at me. No doubt he'd get crazy angry, start accusing me of letting his sister die. But he didn't seem to notice me.**

"Thats cause I didn't send the message."

**I stayed quiet, not daring to move. If he hadn't sent this Iris-message, who had?**

**Nico tossed another trading card into the blue flames. "Useless," he muttered. "I can't believe I ever liked this stuff."**

**"A childish game, master," another voice agreed. **

Leo frowned. "I actually think it sounds kind of interesting."

**It seemed to come from near the fire, but I couldn't see who was talking.**

"Stupid ghost." Nico muttered.

**Nico stared across the river. On the far shore was black beach shrouded in haze. I recognized it: the Underworld. Nico was camping at the edge of the river Styx.**

**"I've failed," he muttered. "There's no way to get her back."**

Everyone looked at Nico sadly as he winced.

**The other voice kept silent.**

**Nico turned toward it doubtfully. "Is there? Speak."**

**Something shimmered. I thought it was just firelight. Then I realized it was the form of a man—a wisp of blue smoke, a shadow. If you looked at him head-on, he wasn't there. But if you looked out of the corner of your eye, you could make out his shape. A ghost.**

**Piper frowned. She had a bad feeling about the ghost.**

**"It has never been done," the ghost said. "But there may be a way."**

**"Tell me," Nico commanded. His eyes shined with a fierce light.**

**"An exchange," the ghost said. "A soul for a soul."**

**"I've offered!"**

Everyone looked surprised at that, but Thalia patted his shoulder. She knew how he felt. She had been devastated when she thought Jason had died.

**"Not yours," the ghost said. "You cannot offer your father a soul he will eventually collect anyway. Nor will he be anxious for the death of his son. I mean a soul that should have died already. Someone who has cheated death."**

**Nico's face darkened. "Not that again. You're talking about murder."**

**"I'm talking about justice," the ghost said. "Vengeance."**

"Those aren't the same thing." Leo muttered.

**"Those are not the same thing."**

**The ghost laughed dryly. "You will learn differently as you get older."**

**Nico stared at the flames. "Why can't I at least summon her? I want to talk to her. She would…she would help me."**

**"**_**I **_**will help you," the ghost promised. "Have I not saved you many times? Did I not lead you through the maze and teach you to use your powers? Do you want revenge for your sister or not?"**

"No."Nico said firmly.

**I didn't like the ghost's tone of voice. He reminded me of a kid at my old school, a bully who used to convince other kids to do stupid things like steal lab equipment and vandalize the teachers' cars. The bully never got in trouble himself, but he got tons of other kids suspended.**

**Nico turned from the fire so the ghost couldn't see him, but I could. A tear traced its way down his face. **

Nico sighed. He didn't want anyone to know about that.

**"Very well. You have a plan?"**

**"Oh, yes," the ghost said, sounding quite pleased. "We have many dark roads to travel. We must start—"**

**The image shimmered. Nico vanished. The woman's voice from the mist said, **_**Please deposit one drachma for another five minutes.**_

"Oh come on." Rachel said annoyed.

**There were no other coins in the fountain. I grabbed for my pockets, but I was wearing pajamas. I lunged for the nightstand to check for spare change, but the Iris-message had already blinked out, and the room went dark again.**

**The connection was broken.**

Everyone groaned. That was bad timing.

**I stood in the middle of the cabin, listening to the gurgle of the saltwater fountain and the ocean waves outside.**

**Nico was alive.**

"Which is a good thing." Thalia said.

** He was trying to bring his sister back from the dead. And I had a feeling I knew what soul he wanted to exchange—someone who had cheated death. Vengeance.**

**Nico di Angelo would come looking for me.**

Nico winced. He really did hate Percy back then. He was just glad that he forgave him. Especially since the two had brotherly relationship now.

"Well that's it." Travis said handing the book to Clarisse.

"Right." She sighed. "The next chapter is We Play Tag with Scorpions."

**so I know I havent updated in like forever and I am sooo sorry. My computer had been broken for a long time and it took two months to get it fixed, and lately I havent really had any motivation. Sorry!**


	4. We Play Tag with Scorpions

** We Play Tag with Scorpions**

**"We play tag with scorpions." Clarisse began, then groaned along with the others who played. It was not a fun 'game'.**

**The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.**

**Apparently around three in the morning an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. I was so exhausted I slept right through the noise.**

**Thalia snorted. "That's just Percy being Percy."**

**Annabeth, Nico, and Grover smirked. They all knew how true that was.**

**The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in our defenses, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher **

**Everyone but the trio(i am now calling Leo, Jason, and Piper this) winced. Lee was one of the campers who died that year. **

**from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armor, it got the message and withdrew.**

**"It's still out there," Lee warned us during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. And it's eyes—" he shuddered.**

**Travis shivered. "They do have some very creepy eyes."**

**"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."**

**"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."**

**"How reassuring." Rachel muttered. **

**The campers murmured among themselves.**

**Everyone knew the rumors: Luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. Most of us expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. It didn't help that our attendance was down. We only had about eighty campers. Three years ago, when I'd started, there had been more than a hundred. Some had died. **

**Everyone winced. It just wasn't fair. None of them deserved to die. **

**"I hate these damn wars." Thalia growled. **

**Some had joined Luke. **

**Again the demigods winced. Some had thankfully come back, like Chris, but the others were killed in the war. **

**Some had just disappeared.**

**"Monsters most likely got them over the summer." Annabeth said sadly. **

**"This is a good reason for new war games, "Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."**

**Annabeth, Grover, Clarisse, Travis, and Connor growled. "Stupid scorpions." Connor muttered. **

**"Yes…" Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods."**

**We all raised our glasses and repeated the blessing.**

**Tyson and I took our plates to the bronze brazier and scraped a portion of our food into the flames. I hoped the gods liked raisin toast and Fruit Loops.**

**Everyone rolled their eyes. "That is so like Percy." Rachel said. **

**"Poseidon," I said. Then I whispered, "Help me with Nico, and Luke, and Grover's problem…"**

**Annabeth and Thalia winced at Luke's name. Piper gave a small smile. "It's nice that he feels like he can ask his dad for help. It seems like a lot of demigods don't feel that way."**

**Nico nodded. "Percy and Poseidon do have a good relationship, especially by demigod standards." **

**There was so much to worry about I could've stood there all morning, but I headed back to the table.**

**Once everyone was eating, Chiron and Grover came over to visit. Grover was bleary-eyed. His shirt was inside out. He slid his plate onto the table and slumped next to me.**

**Grover sighed. "I looked really bad." Then he scowled. "Hey! Percy could've said my shirt was inside out! Geez, some friend."**

**Everyone laughed. **

**Tyson shifted uncomfortably. "I will go…um…polish my fish ponies."**

**"Awkward." Leo muttered and then smiled sheepishly when Piper glared at him, clearly saying 'shut up'.**

**He lumbered off, leaving his breakfast half-eaten.**

**Chiron tried for a smile. He probably wanted to look reassuring, but in centaur form he towered over me, casting a shadow across the table. "Well, Percy, how did you sleep?"**

**"Uh, fine." I wondered why he asked that. Was it possible he knew something about the weird Iris-message I'd gotten?**

**"No." Annabeth said. "I think he was just trying to start a conversation."**

**Rachel nodded in agreement. "It does seem like it."**

**"I brought Grover over," Chiron said, "because I thought you two might want to, ah, discuss matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Iris messages to send. I'll see you later in the day." He gave Grover a meaningful look, then trotted out of the pavilion.**

**"Yeah." Grover smiled. "He certainly did give me a look. He refused to let me back out of telling him."**

**"That's good." Jason said. "Percy needs to know."**

**"What's he talking about?" I asked Grover.**

**Grover chewed his eggs. I could tell he was distracted, because he bit the prongs of his fork and chewed those down, too.**

**Grover rubbed his head sheepishly as the others laughed. "Opps."**

**Thalia just smirked. "Same old goat boy."**

**Grover sighed. "A;ways with that nickname."**

**"He wants you to convince me," he mumbled.**

**Somebody else slid next to me on the bench: Annabeth.**

**"I'll tell you what it's about," she said. "The Labyrinth."**

**Annabeth, Grover, Clarisse, and Nico winced. They ****_hated_**** that place. **

**It was hard to concentrate on what she was saying, because everybody in the dining pavilion was stealing glances at us and whispering. And Annabeth was right next to me. I mean **_**right **_**next to me.**

**Annabeth blushed as the boys cat called and the girls snickered. "Oh shut up!" **

**"You're not supposed to be here," I said.**

**"I hate that rule." The Stoll brothers muttered.**

**"We need to talk," she insisted.**

**"But the rules…"**

**"There's a first time for everything." Clarisse said. "Annabeth Chase is actually breaking the rukes."**

**Annabeth glared half-heartedly while the others laughed.**

**She knew as well as I did that campers weren't allowed to switch tables.**

**Satyrs were different. They weren't really demigods. But the half-bloods had to sit with their cabins. I wasn't even sure what the punishment was for switching tables.**

**"Nothing big. But enough to be annoying." Grover said.**

**I'd never seen it happen. If Mr. D had been here, he probably would've strangled Annabeth with magical grapevines or something, but Mr. D wasn't here. Chiron had already left the pavilion.**

**Quintus looked over and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.**

**Piper raised an eyebrow. "That's good, but isn't a little weird that the authority figure isn't doing anything?"**

**"Aw, who cares beauty queen." Leo grinned. Piper just rolled her eyes.**

**"Look," Annabeth said, "Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what Clarisse and I have been investigating."**

**Clarisse glared. The labyrinth was hades. She had felt like she was going crazy many timess. The only things that made it worth it were finding Chris and helping protect the cap.**

**I shifted my weight, trying to think clearly. "You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?"**

**Everyone frowned at the mention of the minotaur thinking of what he did to Sally.**

**"Exactly," Annabeth said.**

**"So…it's not under the king's palace in Crete anymore," I guessed. "The Labyrinth is under some building in America."**

**Rachel sighed. She wished the labyrinth was that small. It would've made things much easier.**

**See? It only took me a few years to figure things out.** **I knew that important places moved around with Western Civilization, like Mount Olympus being over the Empire State building, and the Underworld entrance being in Los Angeles. I was feeling pretty proud of myself.**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Seaweed brain."**

**The others smiled. They all realized that though Percy was quite smart he was also very slow at times.**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Under a building? Please, Percy. The Labyrinth is **_**huge**_**. It wouldn't fit under a single city, much less a single building."**

**"More like the whole country." Grover muttered to himself. **

**I thought about my dream of Nico at the River Styx. "So…is the Labyrinth part of the Underworld?"**

**"No." Annabeth frowned. "Well, there may be passages from the Labyrinth down **_**into **_**the Underworld.**

**"There is." Nico said. **

** I'm not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get anywhere through the Labyrinth."**

**"A serious understatement." Clarisse said. **

**"If you don't get lost," Grover muttered. "And die a horrible death."**

**Jason groaned. "Well doesn't that just sound lovely."**

**"Grover, there has to be a way," Annabeth said. I got the feeling they'd had this conversation before. "Clarisse lived."**

**"You traveled in it?" Jason asked.**

**Clarisse nodded. "Yeah. I was looking for an entrance to camp so we could close it off."**

**The trio nodded. It was a good idea. **

**"Barely!" Grover said. "And the other guy—"**

**"He was driven insane. He didn't die."**

**Everyone raised their eyes at Annabeth who blushed.**

**"I don't thinks that's much better." Leo said. **

**"Oh, joy." Grover's lower lip quivered. "That makes me feel much better."**

**"Whoa," I said. "Back up. What's this about Clarisse and a crazy guy?"**

**"A very good question." The Stolls said.**

**Annabeth glanced over toward the Ares table. Clarisse was watching us like she knew what we were talking about, but then she fixed her eyes on her breakfast plate.**

**"Yeah, I did. It wasn't to hard to guess?"**

**"Last year," Annabeth said, lowering her voice, "Clarisse went on a mission for Chiron."**

**"Oh." Rachel looked thoughtful. "Was that during the quest they went on last year?" Clarisse nodded. **

**"I remember," I said. "It was secret."**

**Annabeth nodded. Despite how serious she was acting, I was happy she wasn't mad at me anymore. And I kind of liked the fact that she'd broken the rules to come sit next to me.**

**Annabeth smiled as Thalia rolled her eyes. "Boys."**

**"It was secret," Annabeth agreed, "because she found Chris Rodriguez."**

**Travis and Connor winced. They were so glad he was okay. Sure Chris had made mistakes, but he came back, admitted to his mistakes, and did all he could to make up for it(and he never tried to kill anyone from camp, like Luke). It had taken awhile but the two had forgiven him and were glad to have their brother back, and didn't like being reminded of this. **

**"The guy from the Hermes cabin?" I remembered him from two years ago.**

**We'd eavesdropped on Chris Rodriguez aboard Luke's ship, the **_**Princess Andromeda**_**. Chris was one of the half-bloods who'd abandoned camp and joined the Titan Army.**

**"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house."**

**"Wow." Jason blinked. "That was a big coincidence."**

**"What do you mean he just appeared?"**

**"He was wandering around the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armor, babbling about string."**

**"A hundred and twenty degrees. That's torture." Nico shouted.**

**Thalia shocked him. "****_That's_**** what you got from the sentence."**

**Nico smiled sheepishly."Right. Not important." **

**"String," I repeated.**

**"He'd been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house so the mortals wouldn't institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health. Chiron came out and interviewed him, but it wasn't much good. The only thing they got out of him: Luke's men have been exploring the Labyrinth."**

**Clarisse frowned. Part of her hatred for Luke was how he sent his own men down there knowing full well that they most likely wouldn't make it."**

**I shivered, though I wasn't exactly sure why. Poor Chris…he hadn't been a bad guy.**

**All but the lost trio smiled. Percy had become pretty good friends with Chris over the years, especially the months before he disappeared.**

**What could've driven him mad? I looked at Grover, who was chewing up the rest of his fork.**

**"Okay," I asked. "Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?"**

**"We weren't sure," Annabeth said. "That's why Clarisse went on a scouting expedition. Chiron kept things hushed up because he didn't want anyone panicking. He got me involved because…well, the Labyrinth has always been one of my favorite subjects. The architecture involved—"**

**Every laughed at the daughter of Athena who was blushing.**

**Her expression turned a little dreamy. "The builder, Daedalus, was a genius. But the point is, the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Luke could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed."**

**"Except it's a maze, right?"**

**"Full of horrible traps," Grover agreed.**

**Rachel shivered. There definitely was a lot of traps there.**

**"Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters."**

**Everyone laughed at the last one. It was such a Grover thing to point out.**

**"But not if you had Ariadne's string," Annabeth said. "In the old days, Ariadne's string guided Theseus out of the maze.** **It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string."**

**"It's amazing how such small things can be so important." Piper said. **

**"So Luke is trying to find Ariadne's string," I said. "Why? What's he planning?"**

**"To invade camp." Nico growled. **

**Annabeth shook her head. "I don't know. I thought maybe he wanted to invade camp through the maze, but that doesn't make any sense. The closest entrances Clarisse found were in Manhattan, which wouldn't help Luke get past our borders. Clarisse explored a little way into the tunnels, but…it was very dangerous. **

**'Understatement', thought everyone who had been in there.**

**She had some close calls. I researched everything I could find about Daedalus. I'm afraid it didn't help much. I don't understand exactly what Luke's planning, but I do know this: the Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problem."**

**Those who didn't know where Grover found Pan looked confused. **

**I blinked. "You think Pan is underground?"**

**Grover gave a small smile. It was nice how Percy always remembered what was important to him.**

**"It would explain why he's been impossible to find."**

**Leo looked confused. "Why?"**

**"Satyrs hate underground." Jason answered before the others could, surprising them.**

**"How did you know that?" Thalia asked.**

**Jason blushed. "Grover said it in the first book before they started the quest."**

**Annabeth whistled in appreciation. "That's an impressive memory."**

**"Thanks."**

**Grover shuddered. "Satyrs hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in **_**that **_**place.** **No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!"**

**Nico smirked at Grover. "Really? No coffee shops." Grover blushed as the others laughed. **

**"Oh shut up."**

**"But," Annabeth said, "the Labyrinth can lead you almost anywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, trick you and kill you; but if you can make the Labyrinth work **_**for **_**you—"**

**"That's a big 'if.'" Piper said.**

**"It could lead you to the wild god," I said.**

**"I can't do it." Grover hugged his stomach. "Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up ****my silverware."**

**"Thats not something you hear everyday." Travis said. **

**"Grover, it may be your last chance," Annabeth said. "The council is serious. **_**One **_**week or you learn to tap dance!"**

**Everyone laughed as Grover shivered. He would ****_never_**** tap dance.**

**Over at the head table, Quintus cleared his throat. I got the feeling he didn't want to make a scene, but Annabeth was really pushing it, sitting at my table so long.**

**"We'll talk later," Annabeth squeezed my arm a little too hard. "Convince him, will you?"**

**Grover sighed and muttered to himself. "Of course he managed to."**

**She returned to the Athena table, ignoring all the people who were staring at her.**

**Grover buried his head in his hands. "I can't do it, Percy. My searcher's license. Pan. I'm going to lose it all. I'll have to start a puppet theater."**

**Everyone frowned. They didn't like Grover being depressed. It didn't suit him.**

**"Don't say that! We'll figure something out."**

**He looked at me teary-eyed. "Percy, you're my best friend. You've seen me underground. In that Cyclops's cave. Do you really think I could…"**

**Grover shivered remembering that, It was one of his worst memories. **

**His voice faltered. I remembered the Sea of Monsters, when he'd been stuck in a Cyclops's cave. He'd never liked underground places to begin with, but now Grover really hated them.** **Cyclopes gave him the creeps, too.**

**Even Tyson…Grover tried to hide it, but Grover and I could sort of read each other's emotions because of this empathy link between us. I knew how he felt. Grover was terrified of the big guy.**

**"Not anymore. He's one of my best friends now."**

**"I have to leave," Grover said miserably. "Juniper's waiting for me. It's a good thing she finds cowards attractive."**

**"Your not a coward!" Everyone shouted. Thalia, Annabeth, and Nico the loudest.**

**Grover blushed. "Thanks guys."**

**After he was gone, I looked over at Quintus. He nodded gravely, like we were sharing some dark secret. Then he went back to cutting his sausage with a dagger.**

**In the afternoon, I went down to the Pegasus stables to visit my friend Blackjack.**

**Everyone grinned at the mention of the pegasus.**

_**Yo, boss! **_**He capered around in his stall, his black wings buffeting the air. **_**Ya bring me some sugar cubes?**_

**"You know those aren't good for you, Blackjack."**

**Leo snorted. "Who cares as long as they taste good?"**

**Yeah, so you brought me some, huh?**

**"They know each other very good." Rachel said.**

**I smiled and fed him a handful. Blackjack and I went back a long way. I sort of helped rescue him from Luke's demon cruise ship a few years ago, and ever since, he insisted on repaying me with favors.**

**"I think it has more to do with that Blackjack really like Percy." Annabeth said. **

_**So we got any quests coming up? **_**Blackjack asked. **_**I'm ready to fly, boss!**_

**I patted his nose. "Not sure, man. Everybody keeps talking about underground mazes."**

**Blackjack whinnied nervously. **_**Nuh-uh. Not for this horse!**_

**"See." Grover grinned at Annabeth. "****_He_**** understands." Annabeth rolled her eyes as the others laughed. **

**You ain't gonna be crazy enough to go in no maze, boss. Are ya? You'll end up in the glue factory!**

**"You may be right, Blackjack. We'll see."**

**Blackjack crunched down his sugar cubes. He shook his mane like he was having a sugar seizure. **_**Whoa! Good stuff! Well, boss, you come to your senses and want to fly somewhere, just give a whistle. Ole Blackjack and his buddies, we'll stampede anybody for ya!**_

**Everyone laughed. You just had to like Blackjack.**

**I told him I'd keep it in mind. Then a group of younger campers came into the stables to start their riding lessons, and I decided it was time to leave. I had a bad feeling I wasn't going to see Blackjack for a long time.**

**Piper sighed. "It seems like his feelings are nearly always right."**

**Thalia nodded. "They tend to be, yeah."**

**That night after dinner, Quintus had us suit up in combat armor like we were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates in the arena had disappeared, and I had a feeling whatever was in them had been emptied into the woods.**

**"Stupid scorpions." Everyone who was there muttered. **

**"Right," Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather 'round."**

**He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.**

**Nico grinned at the mention of the hell hound.**

**"You will be in teams of two," Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"**

**"AWWWWW!" everybody complained.**

**"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course…you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."**

**"Sounds fun except for the monster part." Leo said.**

**The crowd started murmuring excitedly. The task sounded pretty straightforward. Hey, we'd all slain monsters before. That's what we trained for.**

**"True." Thalia said.**

**"I will now announce your partners," Quintus said. "There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining."**

**"**_**Aroooof!" **_**Mrs. O'Leary buried her face in a plate of pizza.**

**The boys drolled. Pizza sounded really good.**

**Quintus produced a big scroll and started reading off names. Beckendorf would be with Silena Beauregard, which Beckendorf looked pretty happy about. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, would be together. No surprise.** **They did everything together.**

**The brothers grinned and high fived. **

**Clarisse was with Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin**

**Clarisse flinched. She had found Lee a little annoying, but he didn't deserve to die. **

**—melee and ranged combat combined, they would be a tough combo to beat. Quintus kept rattling off the names until he said, "Percy Jackson with Annabeth Chase."**

**Thalia smirked. "The golden team." Annabeth just laughed as the others agreed.**

**"Nice." I grinned at Annabeth.**

**"Your armor is crooked" was her only comment, and she redid my straps for me.**

**This made everyone laugh.**

**"Grover Underwood," Quintus said, "with Tyson."**

**Grover grinned. That was when he started to get use to the idea of Tyson and started to see him as a possible friend.**

**Grover just about jumped out of his goat fur. "What? B-but—"**

**"No, no," Tyson whimpered. "Must be a mistake. Goat boy—"**

**"No complaining!" Quintus ordered. "Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare!"**

**Tyson and Grover both looked at me pleadingly. I tried to give them an encouraging nod, and gestured that they should move together. Tyson sneezed. Grover started chewing nervously on his wooden club.**

**Everyone smirked...**

**Grover grinned sheepishly. "At least the would tasted good."**

**...and were now completely laughing.**

**"They'll be fine," Annabeth said. "Come on. Let's worry about how we're going to stay alive."**

**Annabeth frowned. Those stupid scorpions. **

**It was still light when we got into the woods, but the shadows from the trees made it feel like midnight. It was cold, too, even in summer. Annabeth and I found tracks almost immediately—scuttling marks made by something with a lot of legs. We began to follow the trail.**

**We jumped a creek and heard some twigs snapping nearby. We crouched behind a boulder, but it was only the Stoll brothers tripping through the woods and cursing. Their dad was the god of thieves, but they were about as stealthy as buffaloes.**

**"Hey!" The brothers protested while the others snickered.**

**Once the Stolls had passed, we forged deeper into the west woods where the monsters were wilder. We were standing on a ledge overlooking a marshy pond when Annabeth tensed. "This is where we stopped looking."**

**It took me a second to realize what she meant. Last winter, when we'd given up hope of finding him, Grover, Annabeth, and I had stood on this rock, and I'd convinced them not to tell Chiron the truth: that Nico was a son of Hades. **

**Nico smiled. He really did owe Percy a lot.**

**At the time it seemed the right thing to do. I wanted to protect his identity. I wanted to be the one to find him and make things right for what had happened to his sister. Now, six months later, I hadn't even come close to finding him. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.**

**Annabeth and Grover frowned, remembering how worried Percy had been and how he kept blaming himself. **

**"I saw him last night," I said.**

**Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"**

**I told her about the Iris-message. When I was done, she stared into the shadows of the woods.**

**Annabeth sighed. It was a relief to hear Nico was still alive. She hadn't gotten a chance to get to know him she hated seeing Percy worried like that.**

**"He's summoning the dead? That's not good."**

**Nico winced.**

**"The ghost was giving him bad advice," I said. "Telling him to take revenge."**

**"Stupid Minos."**

**"Yeah…spirits are never good advisers they've got their own agendas. Old grudges. And they resent the living."**

**"He's going to come after me," I said. "The spirit mentioned a maze."**

**Nico sighed. While he wasn't after Percy he could understand him thinking that. **

**She nodded. "That settles it. We **_**have **_**to figure out the Labyrinth."**

**Piper smiled. It was nice how believing Percy was in danger was what really motivated her.**

**"Maybe," I said uncomfortably. "But who sent the Iris-message? If Nico didn't know I was there—"**

**'That's what I want to know', thought everyone who didn't know.**

**A branch snapped in the woods. Dry leaves rustled. Something large was moving in the trees, just beyond the ridge.**

**"That's not the Stoll brothers," Annabeth whispered.**

**Together we drew our swords.**

**We got to Zeus's Fist, a huge pile of boulders in the middle of the west woods. It was a natural landmark where campers often rendezvoused on hunting expeditions, but now there was nobody around.**

**"Over there," Annabeth whispered.**

**"No, wait," I said. "Behind us."**

**Thalia frowned. That wasn't good. It meant there was more then one. **

**It was weird. Scuttling noises seemed to be coming from several different directions. We were circling the boulders, our swords drawn, when someone right behind us said, "Hi."**

**"Huh?" Leo asked. "Whose that? Monsters don't say high."**

**We whirled around, and the tree nymph Juniper yelped.**

**Grover looked confused. What was Juniper doing there?**

**"Put those down!" she protested. "Dryads don't like sharp blades, okay?"**

**"Juniper," Annabeth exhaled. "What are you doing here?"**

**"I live here."**

**I lowered my sword. "In the boulders?"**

**Everyone faced palm. "No seaweed brain."**

**She pointed toward the edge of the clearing. "In the juniper. Duh."**

**It made sense, and I felt kind of stupid. I'd been hanging around dryads for years, but I never really talked to them much. I knew they couldn't go very far away from their tree, which was the source of life. But I didn't know much else.**

**"At least he knows that." Clarisse muttered.**

**"Are you guys busy?" Juniper asked.**

**"Well," I said, "we're in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we're trying not to die."**

**"So nope. Not bust at all." Nico said. "Just the normal routine." Everyone laughed. **

**"We're not busy," Annabeth said.** **"What's wrong, Juniper?"**

**Juniper sniffled. She wiped her silky sleeve under her eyes. "It's Grover. He seems so distraught. All year he's been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, it's worse. I thought maybe, at first, he was seeing another tree."**

**"Hey!" Grover protested. "I would never cheat on her."**

**"We know goat boy."  
"Stop calling me that, Thalia."**

**"Not gonna happen."**

**"No," Annabeth said as Juniper started crying. "I'm sure that's not it."**

**"He had a crush on a blueberry bush once," Juniper said miserably.**

**Everyone looked at Grover amused or incredulous as he blushed. **

**"Juniper," Annabeth said, "Grover would never even **_**look **_**at another tree. He's just stressed out about his searcher's license."**

**"Exactly."**

**"He can't go underground!" she protested. "You can't let him."**

**Annabeth looked uncomfortable. "It might be the only way to help him; if we just knew where to ****start."**

**"Ah." Juniper wiped a green tear off her cheek. "About that…"**

**"Green tear?" Connor asked. **

**"That's different." Travis said.**

**Another rustle in the woods, and Juniper yelled, "Hide!"**

**Before I could ask why, she went **_**poof **_**into green mist.**

**Jason groaned. "And you were just about to learn something."**

**Annabeth and I turned. Coming out of the woods was a glistening amber insect, ten feet long, with jagged pincers, an armored tail, and a stinger as long as my sword. A scorpion. Tied to its back was a red silk package.**

**"One of us gets behind it," Annabeth said, as the thing clattered toward us. "Cuts off its tail while the other distracts it in front."**

**"Good plan." Clarisse muttered.**

**"I'll take point," I said. "You've got the invisibility hat."**

**She nodded. We'd fought together so many times we knew each other's moves. We could do this, easy. But it all went wrong when the other two scorpions appeared from the woods.**

**Leo blinked. "That is really bad luck."**

**"**_**Three?" **_**Annabeth said. "That's not possible! The whole woods, and half the monsters come at us?"**

**"Thats a really good point." Rachel said.**

**I swallowed. One, we could take. Two, with a little luck. Three? Doubtful.**

**'At least he knows not to overestimate himself.' Jason thought.**

**The scorpions scurried toward us, whipping their barbed tails like they'd come here just to kill us. Annabeth and I put our backs against the nearest boulder.**

**"Climb?" I said.**

**"No time," she said.**

**"Not good." Piper muttered.**

**She was right. The scorpions were already surrounding us. They were so close I could see their hideous mouths foaming, anticipating an ice juicy meal of demigods.**

**The Stolls gave a small laugh. "He really does have interesting thoughts."**

**"Look out!" Annabeth parried away a stinger with the flat of her blade. I stabbed with Riptide, but the scorpion backed out of range. We clambered sideways along the boulders, but the scorpions followed us. I slashed at another one, but going on the offensive was too dangerous.**

**Thalia nodded. It was better to stay on defense until they figured out a plan.**

**If I went for the body, the tail stabbed downward. If I went for the tail, the thing's pincers came from either side and tried to grab me. All we could do was defend, and we wouldn't be able to keep that up for very long.**

**I took another step sideways, and suddenly there was nothing behind me.**

**It was a crack between two of the largest boulders, something I'd passed by a million times, but…**

**Thalia frowned. She didn't remember that being there.**

**"In here," I said.**

**Annabeth sliced at a scorpion then looked at me like I was crazy. "**_**In there? **_**It's too narrow."**

**Annabeth smiled. "I thought he was."**

**"I'll cover you. Go!"**

**She ducked behind me and started squeezing between the two boulders.**

**Then she yelped and grabbed my armor straps, and suddenly I was tumbling into a pit that hadn't been there a moment before.**

**The others looked curious. Everyone but the lost hero trio knew what happened, but know they would actually get to see for themselves.**

**I could see the scorpions above us, the purple evening sky and the trees, and then the hole shut like the lens of a camera, and we were in complete darkness.**

**Our breathing echoed against stone. It was wet and cold. I was sitting on a bumpy floor that seemed to be made of bricks.**

**I lifted Riptide. The faint glow of the blade was just enough to illuminate Annabeth's frightened face and the mossy stone walls on either side of us.**

**"I was extremely confused." Annabeth muttered.**

**"Wh-where are we?" Annabeth said.**

**"Safe from the scorpions, anyway," I tried to sound calm, but I was freaking out. The crack between the boulders couldn't have led into a cave. I would've known if there was a cave here; I was sure of it. It was like the ground had opened up and swallowed us. All I could think of was the fissure in the dining room pavilion, where those skeletons had been consumed last summer. I wondered if the same thing had happened to us.**

**Nico winced. Thank the gods that wasn't what happened. He had sent the monsters to Tarturus.**

**I lifted my sword again for light.**

**"It's a long room," I muttered.**

**Annabeth gripped my arm. "It's not a room. It's a corridor."**

**Rachel sighed. She was so glad she would never have to go back down there again. **

**She was right the darkness felt…emptier in front of us. There was a warm breeze, like in subway tunnels, only it felt older, more dangerous somehow.**

**"He has really good senses." Jason said.**

**I started forward, but Annabeth stopped me. "Don't take another step," she warned. "We need to find the exit."**

**"Good." Clarisse muttered. "Get out of there."**

**She sounded really scared now.**

**'Of course I was', Annabeth thought, I had found out where we were and knew there was a chance we could get lost forever.'**

**"It's okay," I promised. "It's right—"**

**I looked up and realized I couldn't see where we'd fallen in. The ceiling was solid stone. The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions.**

**"What the-? How did that happen?" Piper asked.**

**"You'll find out later Grover muttered.**

**Annabeth's hand slipped into mine.**

**The Stoll brothers cooed but were quickly shut up by Annabeth's fists.**

**Under different circumstances I would've been embarrassed, but here in the dark I was glad to know where she was. It was about the only thing I was sure of.**

**"That would be reassuring." Rachel agreed.**

**"Two steps back," she advised.**

**We stepped backward together like we were in a minefield.**

**Clarisse gave a small smile thinking about the mine fields in front of her cabin.**

**"Okay," she said. "Help me examine the walls."**

**"What for?"**

**"The mark of Daedalus," she said, as if that was supposed to make sense.**

**"Makes no sense at all." Leo muttered.**

**"Uh, okay. What kind of—"**

**"Got it!" she said with relief. She set her hand on the wall and pressed against a tiny fissure, which began to glow blue. A Greek symbol appeared: the Ancient Greek Delta.**

**The roof slid open and we saw night sky, stars blazing. It was a lot darker than it should've been. Metal ladder rungs appeared in the side of the wall, leading up, and I could hear people yelling our names.**

**"You were gone for a long time." Travis said.**

**"Percy! Annabeth!" Tyson's voice bellowed the loudest, but others were calling out too.**

**I looked nervously at Annabeth. Then we began to climb.**

**We made our way around the rocks and ran into Clarisse and a bunch of other campers carrying torches.**

**"Where have you two been?" Clarisse demanded. "We've been looking forever."**

**The lost Hero trio looked confused. They're were only gone for a few minutes. **

**"But we were gone only a few minutes," I said.**

**Chiron trotted up, followed by Tyson and Grover.**

**"Percy!" Tyson said. "You are okay?"**

**Piper smiled. It was so sweet how much Tyson cared about Percy. **

**"We're fine," I said. "We fell in a hole."**

**The others looked at me skeptically, then at Annabeth.**

**"It did sound pretty stupid." Travis said.**

**"Honest!" I said. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute."**

**"You've been missing for almost an hour," Chiron said. "The game is over."**

**"That long?" Piper asked. Surprised.**

**"Yeah," Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."**

**"Was an accident!" Tyson protested, and then he sneezed.**

**Everyone grinned at the two.**

**Clarisse was wearing the gold laurels, but she didn't even brag about winning them, which wasn't like her. "A hole?" she said suspiciously.**

**Clarisse frowned. She had wondered if it was an entrance to the labyrinth right when Percy mentioned the hole.**

**Annabeth took a deep breath. She looked around at the other campers.**

**"Chiron…maybe we should talk about this at the Big House."**

**"And that right just there says it's something important." Nico said.**

**Clarisse gasped. "You found it, didn't you?"**

**Annabeth bit her lip. "I—Yeah. Yeah, we did."**

**A bunch of campers started asking questions, looking about as confused as I was, but Chiron raised his hand for silence. "Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place." He stared at boulders as if he'd just noticed how dangerous they were. "All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past!"**

**The Stolls sighed. "I hate it when we get left out."**

**There was a lot of mumbling and complaints, but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving me suspicious looks.**

**"Why Percy only?" Piper asked.**

**"Probably cause everything important seems to happen to Percy." Thalia answered.**

**"This explains a lot," Clarisse said. "It explains what Luke is after."**

**"Wait a second," I said. "What do you mean? What did we find?"**

**Annabeth turned toward me, her eyes dark with worry. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of the camp."**

**The trio gasped. That was not good. They needed to find a way to destroy it.**

**"That's the end of the chapter." Clarisse said handing the book Nico.**

**A/N again sorry for the long wait. I'm going to be starting a job soon, and with school coming up it'll be even harder for me to update, but I WILL finish this book and the next one for sure. I'm just not sure how long it'll take. Sorry.**


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